Warfare timeline

By Murphy_15
  • 20,000 BCE

    When humans first used bow/arrow

    around 20,000BC
  • 3000 BCE

    When horses were first domesticated

    3000 BC
  • 1326 BCE

    The development of the first handcannon

    Sometime after 1450, manufacturers in Germany developed the first widely used and recognized handgun: the arquebus.
  • Period: 1184 BCE to 1194 BCE

    Trojan Wars

    The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad.
  • 1180 BCE

    The invention of the longbow

    The longbow was invented by the Celts in Wales around 1180 C.E. but was not really used by the English military until the 1300s. The longbow is an incredibly strong piece of wood roughly 6 feet tall and 5/8 inch wide.
  • 900 BCE

    gun powder

    Gunpowder was invented in 9th-century China and spread throughout most parts of Eurasia by the end of the 13th century. Originally developed by the Taoists for medicinal purposes, gunpowder was first used for warfare about 904 AD.
  • Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE

    The Peloponnesian War

    The Peloponnesian War remodeled the entire Greek state. The Athenian empire, which was a stronger side prior to the war, was reduced to a mere vulnerable slave of Sparta. After the war, Sparta was the ruling state of Greece.
  • 300 BCE

    The development of the trebuchet

    300BC
  • Period: 264 BCE to 146 BCE

    Punic Wars

    The Punic Wars were a series of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC.
  • 17

    The development of the matchlock gun

    Matchlock. Matchlock, in firearms, a device for igniting gunpowder developed in the 15th century, a major advance in the manufacture of small arms. The matchlock was the first mechanical firing device. The flash in the pan penetrated a small port in the breech of the gun and ignited the main charge.
  • Period: 1095 to

    Crusades

    The crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best-known crusades are the campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Muslim rule.
  • 1327

    The development of the first handcannon

    The earliest reliable evidence of hand cannons in Europe appeared in 1326 and evidence of their production can be dated as early as 1327.
  • Period: 1337 to 1453

    One Hundred Years War

    The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England, against the French House of Valois, over the right to rule the Kingdom of France. Each side drew many allies into the war.
  • Period: 1519 to 1521

    Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire

    Between 1519 and 1521, Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés, overthrew the Aztec Empire. This event is called the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
  • Period: to

    Thirty Years War

    The Thirty Years' War was a war fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. One of the most destructive conflicts in human history, it resulted in eight million fatalities not only from military engagements but also from violence, famine, and plague.

  • The development of the first submarine

    Leonardo da Vinci sketched a primitive submarine around 1515, and in 1578, William Bourne drafted the first design for a submersible craft. In 1620, the first successful submarine was built by Cornelius Drebbel
  • Period: to

    English Civil War

    The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians
  • Period: to

    Napoleonic Wars

    The Napoleonic Wars were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions, financed and usually led by the United Kingdom

  • The development of the revolver handgun

    Samuel Colt submitted a British patent for his revolver in 1835 and an American patent (number 138) on February 25, 1836 for a Revolving gun, and made the first production model on March 5 of that year.
  • Period: to

    The Taiping Rebellion

    The Taiping Rebellion, which is also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in China from 1850 to 1864 between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
  • Period: to

    The American Civil War

    The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South.

  • The invention of the first iron-clad warship

    The Union's first ironclad warship was of the City class built by James B. Eads for operation on the rivers of the western front of the Civil War.

  • The invention of the first machine gun

    The first Gatling guns were used in the American Civil War. These guns were rapid-firing, but they depended on the arm of the operator to crank out the bullets. In 1884, Hiram Maxim invented the first machine gun.
  • Period: to

    Boxer Rebellion

    The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising, or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist, anti-foreign, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901
  • Period: to

    World War I

    World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918.

  • The development of the first tank.

    The first offensive using tanks took place on 15 September 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.
  • Period: to

    Russian Civil War

    The Russian Civil War. The Russian Civil War was to tear Russia apart for three years – between 1918 and 1921.
  • Period: to

    World War II

    World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances:

  • The use of the first atomic bomb

    On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima.

  • When the first hydrogen bomb was first tested

    On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb from a B-29 bomber plane called the Enola Gay on Japanese city of Hiroshima.
  • Period: to

    Cold War

    The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union with its satellite states, and the United States with its allies after World War II.

  • The development of the anti-satellite laser

    Anti-satellite missiles can be deployed against enemy satellites, disrupting crucial intelligence during war

  • The development of the M.O.A.B. (Mother of all bombs)

    on display at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. ... The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB /ˈmoʊæb/, commonly known as "Mother of All Bombs") is a large-yield bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L.
  • Period: to

    Rwandan Genocide

    The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda, which took place between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War
  • Period: to

    Second Congo War

    The Second Congo War began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. The war officially ended in July 2003, when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power.